DNC: Romney's 'Jihad' Ad Shows Lack of Foreign Policy Credentials |
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being
issued by the Democratic National Committee:
As part of his multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, smooth talking
Mitt Romney today rolled out a new ad, entitled "Jihad," that aims to
distract from his complete lack of foreign policy credentials and litany of
blunders on international affairs. Unfortunately for Romney, all the ad
does is expose his superficial knowledge of the threat facing our country
and highlight the fact that a Romney presidency would offer four more years
of President Bush's failed foreign policy.
In the ad, Romney completely ignores the number one foreign policy
issue in this campaign: the war in Iraq. Worse, Romney reiterates his
misleading rhetoric about "violent, radical Islamic fundamentalism,"
declaring that "their goal is to unite the world under a single Jihadist
caliphate" and "collapse freedom-loving nations like us." But, as critics
have pointed out, Romney's ill-informed and dangerously oversimplified
outline of the threat is "misleading" and completely ignores the reality on
the ground in Iraq and in the Muslim world, including the facts that Shias
and Sunnis are "fighting a civil war in Iraq" and many of the groups Romney
typically cites "have not targeted the United States." [Boston Globe,
5/27/07; Texas Monthly, 8/07] Romney's rhetoric may not match reality, but
it parallels President Bush's misleading efforts to generate support for
his failed Iraq strategy by claiming the war is part of a broader plan to
"establish a violent political utopia across the Middle East, which they
call caliphate." [Remarks by President Bush, 9/5/06]
Romney's latest demonstration of his ignorance of the terrorist threat
follows his claim earlier this year that catching Osama bin Laden is
"insignificant," and "not worth moving Heaven and Earth" for. [Associated
Press, 4/26/2007]
"Mitt Romney's new ad shows that he still has no plan for Iraq, no plan
for capturing Osama bin Laden, and no understanding of the threat facing
our country," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera.
"Echoing President Bush's misleading rhetoric may help him with the right
wing of the Republican Party, but if Romney doesn't understand the threat,
how can he expect the American people to trust him with our national
security?"
On National Security, Romney Still Doesn't Get It
Romney Blasted for Saying Lawyers Should Decide How to Defend America.
Romney was blasted by the Wall Street Journal editorial page for his
comments in this week's GOP debate about "deferring to lawyers to tell a
President when he can and cannot use force to defend the country." "Egad.
Call in the attorneys? Perhaps it is Mr. Romney's experience in business
that taught him to want lawyers at his elbow, given that no CEO can survive
without them these days... But deferring to lawyers to tell a President
when he can and cannot use force to defend the country is not the proper
understanding of executive power under the Constitution, and it is
dangerous if it is the first instinct of a Commander in Chief." [Wall
Street Journal, editorial, 10/11/07]
Romney Caliphate Rhetoric Completely Ignores Reality. "By the time
Romney, the tall, patrician former governor of Massachusetts, added his
thoughts, the complex web of movements and ideologies in the Middle East
had been simplified almost to the point of being nonsensical. 'Violent,
radical jihadists want to replace all the governments of the moderate
Islamic states, replace them with a caliphate,' he asserted. 'And to do
that, they also want to bring down the West, in particular us. And they've
come together as Shia and Sunni and Hezbollah and Hamas and the Muslim
Brotherhood and Al Qaeda with that intent.' Never mind the fact that Shias
and Sunnis were at that very moment fighting a civil war in Iraq or that
Hamas and Fatah were on the verge of starting their own in Palestine."
[Texas Monthly, 8/07]
Romney: Catching Osama "Insignificant," Said It's "Not Worth Moving
Heaven and Earth" to Capture bin Laden. In an interview with the Associated
Press on Thursday, April 26, 2007, Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt
Romney said, "the country would be safer by only 'a small percentage' and
would see 'a very insignificant increase in safety' if al-Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden was caught because another terrorist would rise to power.
'It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just
trying to catch one person.'" [Associated Press, 4/26/2007]
Romney Displays "Superficial" Knowledge on Iraq, "Never Mentions Iraq"
in Stump Speech. A Time Magazine column highlighted Romney's "superficial"
knowledge of the war and other top issues and blasted Romney for "the
brazen cynicism of his candidacy," saying "he skims the surface of issues"
in a stump speech that "never mentions Iraq." In fact, on a recent swing
through New Hampshire, Romney "cruised through two performances before the
word Iraq perforated his balloon." When finally asked about it by a high
school student, Romney "offered a welter of details... which sounded sort
of knowledgeable but was actually quite superficial" before getting to the
point: "he would support the President." [Time.com, 5/31/07]
Romney Praises Bush "Principled Leadership" on Iraq. The day after the
President vetoed the Iraq troop withdrawal bill, Romney called the
President to offer his support and commend his leadership. An adviser to
Romney said that the presidential contender telephoned to "commend the
President for his veto" and praise his "principled leadership in the war on
terror." Romney's adviser made it clear that the campaign was not seeking
to distance itself from Bush. "On the eve of this debate," said the adviser
on the significance of the call, "it says we're not running from this guy
at all." [Politico.com, 5/3/07]
Romney: We Can Move U.S. Troops to Our Bases in Saudi Arabia. Trying to
smooth talk the voters into thinking he has an Iraq plan, Romney claimed
the United States "can have a presence in the region" without permanent
bases in Iraq because the U.S. "has bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and
Qatar." [Associated Press, 6/7/07]
-- FLASHBACK: U.S. Closed All Bases in Saudi Arabia in 2003. Romney
apparently forgot that President Bush withdrew virtually all U.S. troops
and closed all U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia in 2003, a gaffe that highlights
his lack of the foreign policy knowledge and experience. [Foxnews.com,
4/29/03]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
http://www.democrats.org.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.
SOURCE Democratic National Committee
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CONTACT:
Damien LaVera of the DNC +1-202-863-8148
